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Fix Windows 0x80071AC3 Error: Volume is Dirty

Jul 10, 2023

When you want to copy some files from your PC to external storage, including external hardware drive, USB drive, SD card, etc., there is an error report popup that appears saying Error 0X80071AC3: The operation could not be completed because the volume is Please run chkdsk and try again. It is devastating to have such an error report and you would like to know why it happened and how to fix it. This article will show you how to fix Windows 0x80071AC3 Error: Volume is Dirty.

What is Error 0x80071AC3: Volume is Dirty?

Error 0x80071AC3 means that the system cannot read or write data to the disk. Bad sectors on the drive, damaged USB port, outdated or defective device drivers, ReadyBoost disk caching feature is enabled and other reasons will make you receive this error message.

How to fix error 0x80071AC3: Volume is Dirty?

Method1. Using the chkdsk utility to fix bad sectors

Run the chkdsk utility, it will help you scan every sector on the disk and confirm if error 0x80071AC3 is caused by a bad sector.

Step1. Open the command prompt

Press Win + R to open the Run, and type cmd in the input box. Click the OK button to open the Command Prompt.

Step2. Enter the command to scan for bad sectors

Type the following command in the command prompt window to repair the scanned bad sectors, and click Enter.

Chkdsk volume: /r

Notice: You need to replace volume with the drive letter you want to scan, for example, Chkdsk C: /r

Method2. Disable the ReadyBoost Disk Caching

ReadyBoost is a built-in disk cache function of Windows. Once this function is activated, it will prevent Windows from reading and writing on the disk, resulting in error 0x80071AC3.

Step1. Open device Properties

Locate the affected external storage and select Properties from the right-click menu.

Step2. Disable the ReadyBoost feature

In the dialog that appears, select the ReadyBoost tab and select the "Do not use this device" button, and then click Apply. Finally, click on OK to close the window.

Method3. Re-install drivers by using Device Manager

Open your device manager to check if there is a faulty driver. The specific steps are as follows.

Step1. Open the Device Manager

Press Win + X to open the Power User Menu, and select Device Manager to open the window.

Step2. Uninstall the damaged external drive

Double-click on the Disk drives section to expand it. Then right-click on the damaged external drive or USB drive and select the "Uninstall device" option. Select Uninstall in the popup that appears to confirm your choice.

Step3. Reinstall the disk driver

Restart the computer, open the Device Manager, and select the Action tab. In the drop-down menu that appears, select "Scan for hardware changes" to reinstall the disk driver. After the installation is complete, check again that the external drive is working properly.

Method4. Modify Registry settings

Sometimes the registry is set to not allow the computer to write to your disk drive, which also results in error 0x80071AC3. You can set the registry to allow the computer to write to the disk by following these steps.

Step1. Open the Registry Editor

Press Win + R to open the Run. Type regedit, and press OK to launch the Registry Editor.

Step2. Change Windows registry configuration

Paste the following address into the address bar and press Enter.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

Find and select StorageDevicePolicies in the left column, then double-click WriteProtect in the right column to open the pop-up window, change the value from 1 to 0, and select OK to close the window. Finally, restart your computer to finalize the changes.

The above methods can help you solve Windows 0x80071AC3 Error: Volume is Dirty. But if none of the above methods can solve the problem, you can try formatting the storage disk. It should be noted that once you choose to format it, your data will not be recovered, please use caution.

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